#devil's nose

Climbing the Devil's Nose August 1992 por Ian Silvester

Devil's Nose Mountain, Hawkins County, Tennessee

Climbing the Devil's Nose August 1992 por Ian Silvester

08-08-2015 Day 41 (Devil's Nose - Baños) Part 1 - El Nariz del Diablo Up at 7 we headed to the train station in Alausi to buy tickets for El Nariz del Diablo, apparently one of the most beautiful train rides in the world. Construction of the railway began in 1899 with the aim of connecting Guayacuil to Quito. The biggest obstacle to the construction was a sharp face of rock 130km east of Guayacuil, a rock just outside Alausi dubbed El Nariz del Diablo or the 'Devil's Nose'; this obstacle resulted in the nickname 'the most difficult railway in the world'. An American engineer came up with a series of switchbacks in order to navigate the sheer face, i.e. where the train alternates direction down the mountain through switching points. The English translation in the museum called them 'birfurcations of the track'. Apparently not long ago it was possible to ride on the roof of the train but health and safety has stepped in and banned it now. Tickets were surprisingly expensive at $30 but thankfully we bagged the last two seats on the right hand side (which features nicer views) even if we didn't get into one of the fancier carriages. The train wound it's way down the mountain, covering 800m of vertical in just 45min. The views were pretty special and the many bends in the mountainside meant we could admire the tail of the train in the foreground with grassy mountains shrouded in mist in the background. We pulled into Sibambe at the bottom where we learned we'd have to rest for an hour for no other reason than they want to try sell you stuff. $2 coffee was a rip off that we declined, and when locals started performing traditional dances I felt pretty uncomfortable so avoided watching. I feel that sort of thing is so contrived and that they can't be enjoying it when they do it four or five times a day, kinda like dancing monkeys and the photo-obsessed tourists just gawp, lapping it up. Regardless, the time passed pretty quick and an hour later the train was whizzing back up the hill to Alausi at a much faster pace than the descent.

PS: By the way, there is a Jamaican connection to this line

Nariz del Diablo, Alausí, Ecuador